My First Car . . .
Back In my Hometown in East Moline IL. when I was 17 years old I went to purchase a 68 firebird that was in the local paper . The sellers garage door was open and I could not take my eyes away from this mean looking 68 Camaro Z/28 with a 302 4 speed, white with black webbing stripes, with only 1,000 miles on it! I asked him could he please take me for a ride. He agreed and was the experience of a lifetime! My heart was pumping and when he ran through all gears Wow it was a Rush! I will never forget that ride for the rest of my life! In the back of my mind I thought I would someday, when the time was right I would get a 68 Camaro.
I have been a “Car Nut” all my life, since I was 12 years old and started wrenching on cars. In high school I was the one that went straight home and worked on my cars in the garage, sometimes till the early morning.
My first car was a 1968 marina blue Chevelle SS 396 with a 4 speed.
I have owned several muscle cars from 68,70,72 Chevelle’s, 2nd & 3rd Gen Camaro’s, Vette, etc. but my first love was still the 1st Gen Camaro’s, the 68!
In 1995 I moved to Florida to get away from those Midwestern cold winters.
In 1988 is when I met my wife Helena, and in 1990 we were married. Being in the car business we went through many cars!
My wife and I have now been marred for 19 years, and she has never denied me any of my toys.
In 2004 I purchased a motorcycle, a Harley FXDWG. I owned it for about a year, but my wife would not go riding with me because she was scared of the other drivers not paying attention to motorcyclist on the roads. I felt it was unfair that we could not enjoy this experience together, so we made a pack to sell the bike if we could find and purchase a 1st Gen Camaro Muscle car. We agreed!!!
It all started in August of 2005 when I purchased my 68 Camaro. I was searching around the Tampa Bay area on the internet for a 1st Gen Camaro. Finally I came across this 68 Camaro on e-bay. I had a flashback to being 17, and remembering my first experience with the ride in that ’68 Z/28 Camaro. It’s funny to think back & realize that was also my wife’s first car, which meant even more to me.
The 68 was located in Texas, it was in great shape very little flaws, so I talked with the owner and exchanged many e-mails and pictures back and forth. I had it inspected so I went ahead and purchased it! When it arrived I was in heaven!!!! I had planned to freshen up the engine, Trans, Rear end, Suspension and so on and drive it! And so I did.
Looking for help on the internet I found http://www.camaros.net.
So, I joined and obtained information about restoring my Camaro and also saw several people posting back and forth with helpful hints for restoration.
A friend and I restored it and freshened up the paint and began taking the car to local car shows, where I had won several Overall Best of Show Awards in my class for a Total of (8) Trophy’s. My first show was the Toys for Tot’s @ Biff’s in St. Pete Fl. December 2007. I won the Marines Choice Award! The best award of the show! Wow I was thrilled! Just when I thought I was done guess what I wasn’t.
I started to see a lot of first gen Camaro’s doing LS Conversions so I started to investigate the conversion and I came across a build thread on Pro-Touring
called “Bad Penny”! That was it! I had to change my 68 Camaro.
“Bad Penny” This was the Inspiration of my transformation of my LS-Conversion!
So I started my list of requirements to do the LS-Conversion, reading several articles on Pro-touring and ordering a book from Street and Performance on there conversions. And so on.
Since the completed project “Evade” it has been in Camaro Performers Magazine Dec/09 Seven Page spread,
Tremec Transmission Ad’s in Hot Rod, and Vintage Air Ad in Camaro Performers
Awards: 2010 Coco Beach Winternationals Won (4) Awards! @ The 18th Annual Winter National and scored “995″ out of 1000
Premier 2010 Best In The State Car & Truck Show! “Evade” Won the Grand Champion Award Modified!
Bill P. Tierra Verde, FL
